Cultural Observations From a Socially Awkward Bad Ass

My date drove us up to Corniche Almadies and finally settled upon a gorgeous beach front restaurant in the middle of the day. Beautiful paintings and structures lay in front of the restaurant, sold by a gentle old man (his name escapes me at the moment) . The clam shell and cement stairway showcases beautiful tropical plants and for a second, you really feel as if you’re in a beautiful garden. Once seated, we were immediately given menus. Our waitress didn’t even ask and gave me me an English menu and gave my date a French one. I really appreciated that gesture because I didn’t have to pull out google translate to order. I ordered the Curry coconut shrimp and my date ordered the Gambas and Thiof skewer. He loved his food and I found my food pretty tasty as well. There was a pretty good dessert menu and their coconut ice cream was amazing. The attaya was wayyyyyy too strong but the mint tea was very refreshing. Overall, great food. Medium-priced and a great view. I would visit again.

This earthy scented oil is found primarily in the Casamance region of Southern Senegal. It is well known for it’s skin toning abilities and can not be found at many places. Think of it as Senegal’s little secret.

7. Aloe Vera

Found on sidewalks and gardens all across Dakar, you can ask a neighbor to cut a piece off but whatever you do..don’t get caught stealing Aloe Vera from in front of someone’s house at 11:PM with a knife….the guard may get upset and chase you away or something 👀. Anways, aloe vera is awesome for pre-pooing, leave-ins, and homemade conditioning creams.

6. Coconut Oil

Big local bottles can be found for 7,500 cfa in the market. Coconut oil is amazing for so many things. You can use it for body oil for radiant skin, oil-pulling for healthy teeth, pre-pooing for softer hair, make-up remover, and oil rinses for your morning face wash.

5. Baobab oil

Coming from the Baobab tree, the fruit is dried and then processes into oil. It is usually used for body and hair purposes. Its rich in vitamins A, D, E, and F, it’s awesome for evening out your complexion and wrinkles.

4. Black Soap

This is the Queen of getting your skin right. Whenever you see those gorgeous women walking around the beach with beautiful clear skin, be sure there is some black soap somewhere in their cabinet.

3. Local Honey

You can find this from your local fruit vendor. Honey is really good for clearing blemishes. It’s also really good when you have a cold or one of them terrible dusk-institgaed flu symptoms. Mix with lime, kinkeleba tea/mint tea, vodka/rum, and the honey. Say good-bye mucus!

2. Shea butter (called Karite locally)

Great for creating DIY hair products and skin care. Karite is an awesome moisturizer and some people even eat it. Most of the Karite here in Dakar comes from Mali and other neighboring countries.

1. Henna

Although not originally from Senegal, I believe the Islamic presence brought in the usage of henna as artistic body art. It is usually seen at marriage and naming ceremonies. The designs come in many different styles and I was told only married woman were supposed to get henna on their feet, just a heads up!

Chez Fatou..I’ve heard so much about you. I’m glad we finally met! The scenery was beautiful and the mimosas did not disappoint. The seating area was open and had a great view to the oceans and the midday surfers.

Service is really important to me and the people who served me and amiga that day were super helpful! They even sent a waiter who spoke English to help us. The menu is in English, with lots of choices. Unfortunately, the breakfast/brunch menu closes at 11:30 which I find to be a bit early. There are a few vegetarian choices, some local dishes, and lots of international ones. For an appetizer, we chose the Crab Dip and it was toooooo yummy ( but quite small) ! For our entree, I ordered the chicken with au gratin but the food lacked a little flavor. Perhaps they cater to a certain palate but it is defiantly not for those of us who grew up in households that utilize seasoning ( shade but it’s all love 🙂 ) My friend ordered Shrimp Alfredo & she said it was okay. I’m defiantly open to going back and trying different items because overall it’s a great place to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon.

UPDATE: After visiting 2 more times and receiving terrible service I’m confused as to what happened. I waited 25 minutes to be given a menu and after getting out my seat to ask what was going on, the host seemed unbothered at all. I personally took the menus back to our seat and still waited another ten minutes to get a waiter…and it wasn’t busy at all. The servers didn’t apologize and the mangers on duty did not seem like they were doing anything. I’m not sure how they are managing the tables but I think they need a new system.

Welcome to my second favorite place in Dakar. Gogo’s Cupcake & Coffee Shop is located across the street from College Sacre Couer. When you walk in you will be amazed to see the quaint pink entry table and couch. You will momentarily forget you’re in Dakar and start really feeling like you’re on a trip to Wonderland!! You can tell the owner loves pink and so do we! I really appreciate how much attention she paid to detail and the woman working the register was extremely accomadating. It’s the perfect place to begin a girl’s day out on the town. It’s in the cut but it’s so worth it. There are usually 6 different types of cupcakes on any given day. Today there is

Vanilla

Caramel Popcorn PopCake

Red Velvet

Double Chocolate

Chocolate with vanilla icing

Chocolate with Strawberries

There menu is also full of tea, coffee, espresso, crepes, quiches, smoothies & even croque monsieur . I’ll attach the link to her Facebook page below. Tell me if you like it!